Stay ConnectedExpertly-curated progressive politics, news, and culture produced by leftist humans, not algorithms or AI. This is an award-winning podcast that dives deeply into a wide range of national and international issues facing society and governments. We draw from hundreds of sources of progressive news and commentary. Est. 2006.
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Air Date 2/25/2025
Racism is at the core of most of what Trump believes so it should be no surprise when he aligns himself and the country with explicitly supremacist projects like the perceived Jewish superiority over Palestinians and the assumed "reverse racism" against White South Africans
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KEY POINTS
KP 1: Trumps Insane Plan To Own Gaza - Pod Save the World - Air Date 2-12-25
KP 2: Elon's African roots - Today, Explained - Air Date 2-13-25
KP 3: Trumps South Africa Fixation - What Next - Air Date 2-12-25
KP 4: American Jews, Israel, and Palestine w Peter Beinart - American Prestige - Air Date 2-11-25
KP 5: West Bank Annexation Inevitable - The Majority Report - Air Date 2-6-25
KP 6: Israelis and Palestinians Standing Together - Ralph Nader Radio Hour - Air Date 2-15-25
KP 7: On The Ground in Gaza Serving the People in Palestine - Rev Left Radio - Air Date 2-11-25
(51:08) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On why Israel and Gaza are not are complicated as you may think
DEEPER DIVES
(56:45) SECTION A: TRUMP'S GAZA PROPOSAL
(1:10:39) SECTION B: AFRIKANERS AND TRUMP
(1:35:00) SECTION C: WEST BANK VIOLENCE
(1:59:33) SECTION D: HISTORICAL CONTEXT
(2:25:09) SECTION E: RESISTANCE
SHOW IMAGE
Description: Composite showing Netanyahu and Trump with their heads close looking down on a Palestinian flag flying out of the rubble on Gaza.
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date: 2-23-25
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:
- The heavy influence of a Nazi political theorist (propagandist) on the MAGA movement
- How our disagreements on baseline reality lead us to devastatingly different conclusions
- What many Trump supporters hoped for vs. what they got
- How so-called Timeline apps may help us extricate ourselves from social media
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REFERENCES:
What Our Broken Politics Owe to the Nazi Jurist Carl Schmitt
Timeline apps are here: Tapestry, Reeder, and a new way to read feeds
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Produced by:
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Air Date 2/21/2025
There is nothing other than racism at the heart of Trump's immigration policy. He wants to deport as many brown people as possible, stop as many immigrants and refugees as possible unless they're White people from South Africa or the nearly 40 million Canadians he's inviting to enjoy immediate US citizenship. This is not complicated. Trump is a disgusting, blatant racist (and always has been) who's trying to turn the US into a White ethnostate.
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KEY POINTS
KP 1: Trump's Unconstitutional Rampage Against Immigration - Amicus - Air Date 1-25-25
KP 2: Guantanamo's other history Part 1 - Today, Explained - Air Date 2-10-12
KP 3: Know your rights (immigration edition) - Make Your Damn Bed - Air Date 1-23-25
(45:30) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On what we can learn from imaginary borders
DEEPER DIVES
(51:24) SECTION A: RIGHTS & FIGHTS
(1:26:42) SECTION B: GITMO & HAITI
(1:48:34) SECTION C: BIPARTISAN EXPLOITATION
(2:36:28) SECTION D: REALITY ON THE GROUND
SHOW IMAGE
Description: A composite image showing a photograph of a sign from a protest that says "The Criminal Is In Office" blended into an illustrated depiction of the backs of people behind a chainlink fence.
Credit: Composite images: private permission photo, and illustrated graphic via Pixabay | License: Pixabay
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date 2/18/2025
Democracies slide into dictatorship in two ways, first slowly and then all of a sudden. We have been sliding in this direction for at least as long as I have been paying attention to politics and we're finally at the moment where that slow slide shifts into full speed.
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KEY POINTS
1: Is America Broken - The Gray Area - Air Date 2-10-25
2: Musk's 'DOGE' is spiraling U.S. into a constitutional crisis - The ReidOut - Air Date 2-7-25
4: Trumps American Takeover - Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick - Air Date 2-1-25
7: Why Are Dems Surprised - The Intercept Briefing - Air Date 2-7-25
(55:58) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On the long slide to dictatorship
Clip: O'Connor Decries Republican Attacks on Courts - NPR
DEEPER DIVES
(1:03:06) SECTION A: GOVERNMENT AGENCIES
(1:29:34) SECTION B: CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS
(2:00:04) SECTION C: THE PLAYBOOK
(2:22:46) SECTION D: WHAT TO DO
SHOW IMAGE
Composite image of the US Capitol building, surrounded by symbols of justice, treasury, international aid, and education, with a large brick smashing into the center with the acronym "MAGA" on the end.
Credit: Composite images from Pixabay | License: Pixabay
Air Date: 2-16-25
Today, Jay!, Amanda, Deon and Erin discuss:
- Why we may be forced to bring back bullying
- The impact of algorithms and what we can do about it
- Democrats and the meaning of 'the medium is the message'
- The unbelievable stupidity of techbro dweebs and their followers
- The sociopathic reasons why Musk is doing this
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REFERENCES:
The Big Tech Takeover of American Politics
Remedial Civics for Tech Bros (Middle article)
Why Is Elon Musk So Hell-Bent on Bulldozing the Government?
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Produced by:
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Original Air Date: 8/4/2015
The dysfunctional state of the US immigration system and the political fight brewing over what to do about it
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Show NotesAct 1: Coming Out As An Undocumented Immigrant - Latino Voices - AJ+ (@ajplus) - Air Date: 03-20-15
Act 2: Donald Trump WRONG About 'Immigrant Crime' - @davidpakmanshow - Air Date: 07-08-15
Act 3: Scott Walker Now Bashing Any and All Immigrants - @majorityfm - Air Date: 04-22-15
Act 5: 'OITNB' actress (@dianeguerrero__) speaks out about family's deportation - CNN - Air Date: 11-17-14
Act 7: Did You Know Jesus Was Against Immigration? - @theyoungturks - Air Date: 07-16-15
Act 8: Hold Border Patrol Responsible via @ACLU — Best of the Left Activism
Act 9: Let Them All In? How Immigration Can Help the Economy - @LearnLiberty - Air Date: 01-13-15
Act 10: The Migrant Manifesto by Musa Okwonga (@Okwonga) - @migrants_rights Network - Air Date: 11-26-12
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date 2/11/2025
The very rich, as has been noted before, are not on the side of regular people. And even if you think that the federal government needs a major reboot, no one but the ultra-wealthy are going to be happy with what they build in the aftermath of the administrative coup currently underway.
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ACTIVISM ROUNDUP
KEY POINTS
KP 1: How Oligarchs Took Over The World - Double Down News - Air Date 1-9-25
KP 3: The Oligarchy's Power is Waking America Up - Velshi - Air Date 1-27-25
KP 5: Why the Tech Bros Allied with Trump - Zeteo - Air Date 2-2-25
KP 6: President Trump and the Power of the Purse - Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie - Air Date 2-5-25
(51:21) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On the dream of the accelerationists
DEEPER DIVES
(56:16) SECTION A: HISTORICAL CONTEXT
(1:40:21) SECTION B: GOVERNMENT DESTRUCTION
(2:25:04) SECTION C: THE BROS
SHOW IMAGE
Description: A composite image showing a wrecking ball - with Elon Musk's face on it - smashes a white wall.
Credit: Composite design by A. Hoffman. Image sourced from Pixabay. | License: Pixabay
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Air Date: 2-10-25 Today, Jay! and Amanda (Deon and Erin were sick) discuss: - Why you should be using an RSS reader - The danger of Mystification as humans try to cope - Musk and Trump's flagrant law breaking - What Dems and you can do, with some tips from our own experience
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REFERENCES:
You should be using an RSS reader
Q & A: Jared Yates Sexton on the 'Weaponized Abuse' of Authoritarianism
Brian Schatz on How Democrats Can 'Start Kicking Ass Again'
All the ways Elon Musk is breaking the law, explained by a law professor
Five Things Dems Must Do to Fight Trump Now
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Air Date 2/7/2025
Trump came in with a plan to subdue the media and large swaths of the media came in with a plan to acquiesce. But it's important to understand why because it's not a conspiracy or people wanting to do harm, it's structural to the system.
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KEY POINTS
KP 3: Trump SECRET Meeting with Media before Payoff EXPOSED - The MeidasTouch Podcast - Air Date 12-16-24
KP 4: Mickey Huff The Mainstream Media is [CENSORED] - The Zero Hour with RJ Eskow - Air Date 1-11-25
KP 5: Why Is Mainstream Media Still So Bad At This - The Majority Report - Air Date 2-2-25
KP 6: Public Broadcasting Is In Danger (Again) - On the Media - Air Date 1-10-25
KP 7: Attention pays (with Chris Hayes) - The Gray Area with Sean Illing - Air Date 1-27-25
(53:40) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On the liberatory power of the humble RSS feed reader
DEEPER DIVES
(1:00:23) SECTION A: MONEY
(1:20:46) SECTION B: ATTENTION
(1:34:24) SECTION C: FREE PRESS
SHOW IMAGE
Description: Photo of a TV in a living room with a Breaking News graphic. A person can be partially seen sitting on the couch eating a bowl of popcorn in their lap.
Credit: "Breaking news journalism press" by Tumisu, Pixabay | License: Pixabay
Air Date 2/4/2025
The era of unquestioned US hegemony is undoubtedly on the decline but the future is much more complicated and uncertain than the straightforward idea of China rising to take our place that we've been told. Though Trump is not the cause of US decline, he may send us out in a tragic blaze of glory.
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KEY POINTS
KP 1: Things Fall Apart - The Muckrake Political Podcast - Air Date 1-28-25
KP 2: The end of America's global dominance Part 1 - The New Statesman - Air Date 1-8-25
(46:57) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On soft landings vs crash landings
DEEPER DIVES
(52:56) SECTION A: AMERICAN DECLINE
(1:26:09) SECTION B: CHINA
(1:49:01) SECTION C: RUSSIA
(2:15:18) SECTION D: FRANCE
(2:35:47) SECTION E: CORPORATE CONTROL
(2:59:56) SECTION F: WHAT COMES NEXT
SHOW IMAGE
Description: Composite image of a crystal ball with Earth floating in its center and a white question mark on top of it.
Credit: Composite design by A. Hoffman. Images from Pixabay. | License: Pixabay
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